The Veterans Council recognized Vietnam vets at the annual observance.

Retired Marine Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, a Medal of Honor winner, tells the crowd at the Veterans Day observance on St. Simons Island on Monday that the media gave a false picture of the war in Vietnam and that weak leadership in Washington turned victory into defeat.

The umbrellas served as tops over convertibles carrying Gold Star families who lost someone in Vietnam. They and Vietnam veterans were honored Monday during the Veterans Day observance on St. Simons Island.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND - For some it was more than 40 years late, but Vietnam veterans got their welcome home parade Monday on St. Simons Island.

The Veterans Council of the Golden Isles made Vietnam veterans the focus of their annual observance and invited as many as would to march in the parade.

Appreciative observers applauded as the veterans marched in the rain and again as they were recognized under the canopy over the Casino building courtyard.

Clyde Heath, a part-time island resident, watched from the sidewalk unable to walk because of a sore foot. Asked how he felt about the welcome home, Heath said “about 50 years late. I never heard it when I got home.”

Given the treatment of Vietnam veterans, Heath said he didn’t talk about his own service with the 4th Infantry Division.

“I was almost a closet vet for a while, almost hiding it,’’ Heath said.

It was only recently that he began acknowledging his time in Vietnam, Heath said.

Vietnam veteran Jimmy Joyner called the parade overdue.

“When we came home there was a lot of slander, baby killers they called us,’’ he said.

“It’s a wonderful thing,’’ he said of the invitation to march in the parade. “I hurt my knee, but I told my wife I was coming if I had to drag it.”

Windell Branch of Brunswick remembered flying into Seattle from Vietnam.

“They carried us out the back gate. We were met by the protesters. They were yelling, ‘baby-killer’ and ‘It’s not our war,’ ’’ he said. “I’ll never forget them.”

The parade was far from the end of the recognition.

State Rep. Alex Atwood, R-St. Simons Island, said, “You quietly passed the test. You came when your nation called. Most importantly, you did the right thing ... I’m honored to say welcome home. Welcome home.”

County Commission Chairman Richard Strickland told them they now live in a nation resolved to never again treat veterans the way it did those of Vietnam.

The dozens of Vietnam veterans were called to the front as the audience applauded. They snapped to as well as many of the old servicemen could to salute during a roll call of 21 Glynn County residents who died in the war. They held their salute as the some surviving families were recognized.

As the keynote speaker, retired Marine Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston assured them they had done the right thing in serving. Livingston had a perspective like no other having been awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in leading a Marine force on May 2, 1968.

He was damning, however, of weak Washington leadership and the news media that he said gave a false picture of the war.

Livingston said people he meet seem compelled to tell him why they didn’t go to Vietnam.

“I don’t have to look myself in the mirror with those thoughts,’’ nor do other Vietnam veterans, he said. He noted that North Vietnamese leaders have said that had America bombed Hanoi two more days, they would have surrendered.

“You know who didn’t know it? The idiots in Washington,’’ he said.

He continually lambasted the weak civilian leadership that imposed “ridiculous rules of engagement” and the unacceptable performance of the media.

The Americans fighting the war won it, but “It was lost in the hearts and minds of America,’’ he said.

But Livingston also said as he gets older, he grows prouder of being a Vietnam veteran.

“Nobody has to apologize to me. We are who we are. We’re Americans. We did our duty,’’ he said.